A VILLAGE railway station has won a top award for gardens maintained by the local community.

A team of dedicated volunteers and the local youth group have worked together since adopting Dolwyddelan station last year, and have lovingly restored it with an award-winning kaleidoscope of colour.

The adopters set to work keeping the station clean and tidy and tending to the garden under the watchful eye of youth leader Anna Wyn Hughes.

“Dolwyddelan in Bloom and Cylch yr Ifanc have been awarded the Best Station Garden award by Arriva Trains Wales. I had the privilege of attending the station adopter conference in Chester last Saturday,” explained Anna.

“It was brilliant to see all the before and after images of our dedication and hard work up on the big screen for all to see. It was a real surprise to win the award.

“So many people have worked together on this project, including the community council, the action group and Snowdonia Society. We are only a small village and winning this award demonstrates everyone’s team working.”

The awards are in recognition of the work given by volunteers to change the appearance and ambience of stations in Wales under the adoption scheme.

Larry Davies, community rail officer for the Conwy Valley line, is proud of Dolwyddelan’s achievement and the fact all stations along the Valley line have now been successfully adopted.

“I am absolutely delighted our adopters at Dolwyddelan have been recognised by winning this award for the tremendous work they have done. Their work on the station, and now in transforming the former goods yard into a picnic and amenity site, is going from strength to strength,” he said.

And it’s not just the station that’s benefiting from the army of volunteers, but the village too.

“We’ve also planted hundreds of daffodils to commemorate the Women’s Institute’s 60th anniversary and built a rockery in the garden with help from the local nursery,” added Anna.

“We are currently working on converting the old goods yard and are looking at making the entrance to the village more colourful too.

“We will carry on the good work as much as possible and during the summer we will need as many willing and able volunteers as possible to help us achieve this.”